Remains of Hope
by Pikatwig
Summary: What has become of the mission to stop Helheim? You shall now know, the tales of the Riders of Zawame. Six views... six events. Who are these characters being shown? The answers, must be read.
1. Shattered Hope

If something is true in Gaim, the concept of hope and despair from Wizard. Regardless, having done some thinking I figured a concept was born from the idea of hope and despair. This story will have different characters going through thoughts of hope and thoughts of despair, and this will be told from how a certain character perceives the world. However, you won't know who the character is, unless you can figure it out through the actions and thoughts seen from the chapter.

Regardless, I'm kinda throwing canon out, beyond this chapter, it'll be my own take on how the rest of Gaim will end up going. So, without further ado, let's get this going.

I don't own Kamen Rider, it belongs to Bandai, Toei and such.

* * *

I had finally returned, only to see… what had remained.

The city had been turned into a No Man's Land, there was hardly any signs of human or animal life anywhere, with the plants of Helheim spread everywhere. I let out a sigh and took a moment to sit down and think. Had there been no point in trying to protect the human race? ...maybe this isn't a good time to sit around, asking myself questions.

I spent about a day walking around town, trying to see if there was any trace of life… beyond the new resistance to fight the enemy. And sure enough… there wasn't any left. With that off my plate, I had a new goal. Find him, and try to see what has been going on. However, when I tracked him down, something unusual had begun.

There was someone else there aside from me… someone close to me. With no idea what was going on, I chose to follow them and listen to what that person close to me had to say to him.

I listened close… and had seen what that person close to me had done… he had stolen me… and used my name to try and kill him, the hero. I could only listen and watch as their blades clashed, I had to fight back my urge to cry at what had happened to the person that was close to me. Internally, I was wishing that I had crushed that cherry-yaro for giving him that taste of power… because it's driven him to near insanity.

With the hero on the verge of possibly being killed, I charged in, despite having nothing to defend myself with, I pleaded to that person who was close to me to stop this madness… he refused to listen to me. Saying I was nothing…

He had managed to get away, thanks to help from one of his new allies… I headed back with the resistance to try and figure out what was going on. I met up with a former ally, who I had thought was sent in to spy on the hero and the resistance, but turns out I was wrong. She had been abandoned, and the resistance took her in to help fight the monsters threatening the city, and by now, the entire world.

I talked with her, and said anyone who allied with the enemy… is our enemy, and must be stopped. Even if it means that person I care about.

After a conversation with the hero who had brought me hope, I knew one thing: the fault of the person who I cared about going astray was not his… but my own fault. So… I had one thing to do, stop him myself.

But only one problem with my plan, I had nothing to fight with, the person I cared about had my powers… and I couldn't use the one that was supplying me with energy… but it was then, I recalled one thing, I did have one more source of power. Even if it was weaker than the one the person I care about stole it was still my best shot to try and stop him.

* * *

With our dueling location set, I headed out to hopefully stop that person before it was to late. He had arrived and told me about what plans he was scheming, and that he could save the world… or something along those lines. I told him that he's my shadow, with him figuring that if he's the shadow, he needs to get rid of me to escape it.

That sort of made sense… I suppose, but I had to stop him, here and now, because if I didn't… who would? Thus, I activated my abilities, as did he, and we charged forward and begun our battle. While he had the stronger armor, I had the better skills, meaning in terms of the advantage I managed to hold it for a long while, while he could only get clear hits on me by cheating. But in doing so, he managed to partially unarm me, but I continued to keep on fighting as hard as I could.

At one point, he pinned me down and asked me what it was I was always 'babbling' about. "Noblesse Oblige", meaning that the most gifted should be the first to be sacrificed. After I managed to get him off of me, the one I cared for told me that if I was going to die for anyone, it should be for him, as he prepared to try and kill me. I readied to defend myself, and finish this fight.

With my katana in my hands, I charged forward with all of my might… but I let a single tear drip down from my eyes, as I remembered what this person meant to me. Was this really what he wanted? I… couldn't end him, I just couldn't…

My katana had stopped only a few inches away from him… but he took full advantage of my hesitation, and slashed at me with his weapon, and it sent my flying back, with my buckle flying off of my waist, damaged from the attack… I could only hope and pray it wasn't destroyed… and that somehow… someway, someone would find it, and use my powers for good… to save the world…

I was knocked into a lake, quickly running out of oxygen as my unconscious body sunken down to the bottom… I knew this would be my final moments… if I could regret anything… it would be allowing the person I cared about to stray from the right path…

With only a few moments of air left… I thought about what the hero had told me earlier… he was raised by his sister… and I had thought that if the person I cared about was as well… if I wasn't his family…

I could only hope… no… my hope was shattered. There is only… shattered hope…

* * *

This my friends, is how "Remains of Hope" will work. You'll see the world through a character's eyes, you won't know who it is, and you gotta use the clues in the chapter to figure it out. And FYI, this will be the only chapter that will be based in the actual show… possibly.

Anyway, guess who this is about, there's a hint. A term that the character has said.

Just Live More.


	2. Powerful Hope

Great. Sonic. Booms. Gaim is boiling down to the finale, and things are getting intense! Rosho having gone to extreme means to protect the Forbidden Fruit, and a whole bunch of more stuff like that occurs in the most recent episode. And while more subtle… we finally get some subtitles to "Ranbu Escalation"... so it's something.

Anyway, getting back on track with this story, this chapter will have some base from rumors I've been reading, that I don't know if they're true or not. So, let's get this going.

Also noticed a small error in the story description, when it should say 'six' views, not seven. I fixed it, but something worth noting.

I don't own Kamen Rider, it belongs to Bandai, Toei and such.

* * *

How I ended up where I am now… I honestly have no clue. Well, I do know… but at the same time, it feels like a blur. Almost like… my memories were leaving me. I was treading this forest, simply looking for something to help me regain who I once was.

But… I knew that the only ones who had that knowledge were dead now… the Overlords… I could only sigh, and hope that he… would put me out of my misery.

I had long searched for power… that I could remember, but why I wanted to… I couldn't remember. I did however, remember how I got into the mess I am.

It was when Sour Grapes had betrayed us… or rather, made it known to the others, since I already knew, I had arrived to help The Hero, but I made the foolish mistake of not being henshined… one of the Overlords had attacked me… it left a cut that got the Helheim Infection… and it began to spread up through my veins.

I had a chance to try and ask their king to heal it, however… I wasted my chance, and the king was killed… all of the Overlords were dead… or seemingly, anyway.

With the Overlords gone, the Inves had no commanders, like they needed commanders in the first place anyway. We had to clear them out, and hope that from there, the world could be restored. However, the Helheim Infected cut continued to spread… I could hardly even control my right arm anymore… it felt completely numb… and when it didn't, I had no control over it.

But that was not the end of my pain… no, in fact, it was FAR from the end of it. I was told that the Infection would continue to spread… until it turned me into an Overlord. I felt like denying it… I looked to my arm and saw red scales starting to form on it. I had obtained a power beyond compare… but it wasn't from a Lockseed… or anything of that sort, but rather, through some unfortunate luck, I got it.

Much like a certain nutty Beat Rider… I tried to fight it… but alas… it was a fairly futile effort, as the red scales spread down my right arm, and up it, reaching my shoulder. The Professor told me that I would still be me until the infection reached my brain and my heart.

* * *

With few hours left as a human, someone managed to get this info onto Sour Grapes, and he attacked me. I spent the last few hours with my humanity fighting for my life. I managed to damage his new Lockseed a bit… I could only hope The Hero would have enough power to destroy it. During this, the scales begun to spread up my onto my chest and onto parts of my legs.

After escaping Sour Grapes, I looked to a water source to see my reflection… the final time I saw my human face. My face mutated into a sort of version of my Rider helmet before the Armor Part attached onto it, with a blue jester like mask over the visor area. I tore off my shirt to see red scales were forming, when my shoulders gained asymmetrical spikes, when suddenly, a sort of cape dropped down from my shoulders… I had turned into the monsters I had tried to stop.

I spent hours wandering around to try and stop myself… this is not the power that I had wanted… the Inves had swarmed me… like they were looking for a leader. I was not scared… but I would not be their leader.

Suddenly, the Hero had shown up and cleared the Inves that surrounded me… but a single look told him everything he needed to know. Who I was… and that I was now the enemy. But, he refused to attack me. I couldn't take this pain anymore…

I told him that he could kill me… I would strike first. I told him to call what he was about to do 'self-defense'. He turned into the form that would eventually make him like me… but I was not scared. He used a copy of my weapon to make me stay still, apart from my right arm. He approached and said he wouldn't kill me. He had his ultimate weapon in hand, and I gained an idea. I took out my primary Lockseed, while a little bit chipped from the fight with Sour Grapes… it would work one final time. I reached out my right hand, and managed to put my Lockseed into his ultimate weapon.

The weapon charged up, he paniced, as he tried to stop the blast, but I assured him it would be okay, and told him to keep looking for his own power. I reached my one hand onto the trigger… and fired it at myself.

The final thing I heard was him shouting my name in agony… I could only smile as I knew my search for the ultimate power was over… but did I care? Not really… I wished the Hero luck… not like he needed it. He had the ultimate power, and something I never had: powerful hope.

* * *

Well… Gaim's got a few episodes left. Sure, it'll be shorter than Wizard, with a total of 47, and shorter than it's first Super Hero Time partner, I think what we got going is going to be great. And I plan to hold Drive up to some HIGH standards given this season.

Anyway, guesses to who this is? I hope you can figure it out.

Just Live More.


	3. Shimmering Hope

*sighs* The final day of summer vacation is upon me. I go back to school on Monday… so I figured I would try to get one more chapter of something up before I have to go back.

I'll admit, last chapter was kinda obvious, but I didn't know how to hide who the character is… but this time, I assure you, you'll have to guess.

I don't own Kamen Rider, it belongs to Bandai, Toei and such.

* * *

After my final conversation with him… me and the Armored Riders had made a choice. We would head out to other parts of the world to try and clean up the Inves Invasion.

We didn't know one little thing about this mission at the time… but regardless, the flamboyant one would head to France, the boy with glasses would head to Africa, knuckle boy would head over to China, and I would head over to North America.

* * *

At 0400 Hours, I had arrived at what remained of North America after the government sent missiles that the Overlord King redirected. The missiles had struck at various points, primarily in southern and eastern states like Texas, Florida, Maine, New York… I was only thankful that Japan wasn't hit is all.

I began to fight off Inves left and right, managing to start to clear up parts of the country, being able to get around with the Dandeliner Lockvehicle. I helped wherever I could, to try to just… be a hero. After about a few hours of clearing up Inves, I landed to try and catch my breath. During my break, I tried to contact Zawame City, but it didn't work. However, at 0435 Hours, I received a help contact from the flamboyant Rider, however, it ended not long after that.

I headed to a city in Illinois, Crystia, a city named for a crystal ore that was found in it during the Gold Rush. A Yggdrasil section worked here, and as a result of that, the Overlord King had sent a high amount of Inves here. Whatever reason, he sent bigger numbers of Inves to cities with Yggdrasil Bases in them…

Not sure why it is Yggdrasil set up here in Crystia, I mean, I've heard rumors about there being a team of Magical Girls here at some point… but it's only rumors. I tried to relax a little bit out of exhaustion from all of the fighting, simply hoping that I could defend this city.

Soon, I noticed some Kurokage Troopers running through the city, likely heading to an area to fight the Inves. I quietly followed them to see they arrived at some high school, they suddenly began to burn the building! I quickly readied my Lockseed and turned into Rider form to try and get people out before the Kurokage Troopers could do any more harm.

* * *

However, when various Troopers entered the rooms, they began to kill people left and right, with the fire starting the spread upwards and all around. I had watched as the Troopers stabbed people to death, tossing their bodies into the spreading fire. They also damaged the fire alarms and sprinkles so there would be no way to stop the fire. I had to hurry and find get people out before everyone was killed. I managed to get in, before finding a room that had five girls practicing music. There was one girl with a blue guitar, a girl with a bass, a girl with pink hair on the drums, a girl playing a piano, a girl playing a tambourine of all things.

I explained most of what was going on, when suddenly the fire got in, and Troopers got in through the windows. I henshined and tried to hold them off, but their numbers overwhelmed me and knocked me down. One of the girls managed to toss me a paper, saying one of their friends was still around nearby, she had red and yellow hair, so I knew what she would look like. The Troopers then brutally killed the five girls, tossing them and their instruments into the fire to burn.

I dashed out of the room and began to fight the Troopers, when I saw the girl trying to pull on a fire alarm, when she saw another one of her friends die right in front of her, with the Troopers about to kill her with the Squash attacks, I charged in, successfully managing to block all of them with my weapon.

I got all of the Troopers out of our way, got the girl and quickly ran out for the exit, she was starting to cough due to a lack of oxygen due to the fire. Suddenly, we were surrounded by the Kurokage Troopers, in response, I used my Driver's Sparking maneuver and flung the Armor Part forward, smacking down all of the Troopers, and blowing down the exit.

It was around 1645 Hours when we got out, when I got a contact from the knuckle boy. He said that both the flamboyant Rider and the nut Rider were both killed by the Overseer's younger brother using some mysterious Lockseed. He said he was on his way to my location, when my communicator was damaged by a Kurokage Trooper's Kagematsu.

Me and the girl were surrounded by at best twenty of those Troopers, when suddenly, an "Au Lait" sound from a Sengoku Driver went off, I glanced up to see knuckle boy dropping down and striking the Troopers like nothing. The girl pulled me aside for a moment and pointed to some sort of a statue with a glass mirror of sorts, telling me to smash it so the Inves and the Kurokage Troopers wouldn't get to it. I could only trust this girl's judgement, as I then destroyed the glass where she said to.

Suddenly… things went south… really fast. A charged up Sonic Arrow shot came from out of nowhere and it hit the knuckle boy, sending his Driver and Lockseed flying off of him. He then crashed against a tree, and the poor kid bleed to death. One of the Troopers walked over to burn him to death, when the Trooper was smacked down by another Rider.

I glanced on over, seeing it was one of the Smart Brain Kamen Riders, he quickly henshined and began to fight off the Kurokage Troopers. He told me to get the girl out of here and somewhere safe, he would join up with us if he could, back in Zawame City. I gave a reluctant nod, before trying to use the Dandeliner Lockvehicle to get out of here, when suddenly, it was shot down! I gasped and looked over to who did it, and saw it was the second armor of Overseer Kureshima and his brother… but it oddly looked different. How so? Well… the chest and Armor Part stuck out a little bit more, there was a skirt of sorts on the suit, and the Rider now had heels… who was it? I have no idea…

Regardless of who it was, she charged forward and began to attack me. It became clear that… whoever this was, along with the Overseer's younger brother took, whatever remained of Yggdrasil and were trying to kill the six billion people to try and make Project Arc successful. I know two of whom those one billion people who would be left in the future if they managed to get away with it.

The new user of the Overseer's armor pulled back on her Sonic Arrow, and I countered with the same attack, but I was drained from the fight with the Troopers and it was clear that this person saw that. She pulled on her Genesis Driver's lever, before doing a Rider Kick to me… the attack hitting with tremendous force, shattering through my armor.

Blood began to ooze out of where the kick hit me… when suddenly, the new user of the Overseer's armor began to falter a little bit… one of her visor eyes glowing red for a moment. She backed away and left, when that girl approached me, trying to tell me to stay alive… but I knew that this was it. I glanced over to the setting sun… and a thought wandered into my mind… I couldn't help but wonder… what would that hero do… once everyone's safe? But… it was a question I would ask him in heaven.

Reaching for my Driver, I took it off, handing it to that girl, I asked her for her name… I honestly don't remember what she said… Shimmer something?

We watched the setting sun… I thought about how hope was like a sunset, it could rise as easily, but fall just as easily… I simply saw some… shimmering hope. Finally, the Smart Brain Rider got the girl and they got set to head for Zawame City… good luck… Next Generation Rider… the II.

* * *

I came kinda close to flat out saying who it is at the very end. Good thing I didn't. So, take some guesses as to who this is? And who is the Smart Brain Rider she was talking about? And who is that girl that was rescued from the arson and murder attack by the Kurokage Troopers?

All those questions shall (maybe) be answered next time. And I finished this in a day... haven't done that in a long time.

Just Live More!


End file.
